Danish Puff Pastry Recipe

Originally popularized by Betty Crocker for General Mills, this Danish Puff Pastry recipe is a classic in our household. It hardly feels like Christmas if someone doesn’t make it!

This Danish Puff Pastry is one of those recipes that’s very near and dear to my heart because I grew up eating it. But even after all these years I still adore it, because it’s just that good. It’s a classic for a reason.

It’s definitely a Christmas staple, but it can be enjoyed year-round!

This delicious dessert consists of 3 layers of goodness: A flaky pastry crust on the bottom, an airy choux style pastry in the middle, and a melt-in-your-mouth frosting on top.

The thing I love the most about this pastry (besides the incredible flavors) is that it looks super fancy, but it’s actually a really easy recipe. Don’t get scared away by the terms “pâte à choux pastry” and “short crust pastry” – they’re actually quite easy to make if you follow my step-by-step instructions!

Okay, let me show you how to make this wonderful pastry treat!

Video Tutorial

Here’s a video tutorial in case you learn best by watching a demonstration. The full written tutorial and printable recipe are below!

Ingredient Notes:

Frosting and Toppings:

• Powdered Sugar: (AKA Confectioners’ Sugar): I like both the Wholesome organic powdered sugar, as well as the Florida Crystals powdered sugar.
• Butter: Once again, I implore you to use salted butter here! It should be softened to room temperature.
• Water: You’ll want the water to be nice and warm to help melt the butter into the powdered sugar a bit.
• Almond Extract: This is a must in the frosting as well IMO. The original recipe calls for vanilla extract, but that’s wrong. My mom always made it with almond extract, so this wouldn’t taste right without it. And the flavor is soooooo good with the almond. I did try this recipe with just 1 teaspoon of almond extract instead of 1½ teaspoons. It was still good, and my sister who doesn’t like almond extract preferred it, but I like it better with the full amount.
• Sliced Almonds: This is optional, but it does add an extra crunchy element, and it’s so pretty.

To Make the Short Crust Pastry:

First, let’s make the easy shortcrust pastry!

1. Place the 1 cup flour and ½ cup butter into a large mixing bowl. Cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. I used a pastry blender, but you could also use a fork in a pinch. This is quite a buttery dough, so you might need to spread the butter pieces apart with your fingers a bit if they’re clumping together.
2. Add the 2 tablespoons of water.
3. Mix with a spatula until the mixture starts to come together.
4. Gather the dough together into a ball. You may need to knead it slightly to get it to come together.

Divide the ball of dough in half.

On an ungreased large baking sheet, pat each half of the dough out into a 12×3-inch (30.5×7.5 centimeter) rectangle. You want to leave at least 3 inches (7.5 centimeters) between the rectangles to account for expansion.

It looks like a long, skinny rectangle now, but after baking it will be more like an elongated oval shape.

Set aside while you make the choux style pastry:

To Make the Choux Style Pastry:

Measure out the flour and have the almond extract handy. Set aside.

Bring 1 cup of water and 1 stick of butter to a boil over medium-high heat.

I tested this recipe with a 3-quart saucepan, but I think a 2-quart saucepan would work as well since there isn’t a TON of dough.

1. Remove the water/butter from the heat and immediately stir in 1 cup of flour and the almond extract.
2. Stir until the mixture comes together into a dough.
3. Place the pot back over low heat and stir until it starts to come together and form a ball, about 1 minute.
4. Remove from heat. Crack all 3 eggs into the pan and immediately start to stir vigorously.

Stir until the mixture is smooth and glossy. This should only take a couple of minutes of vigorous stirring.

Place half of the choux style pastry on each half of the short crust pastry rectangles.

Spread the dough evenly out the edges of the pastry rectangles.

This is a somewhat sticky dough, so I recommend using an offset spatula to make spreading it easier.

Baking:

Bake on the sheet pan in a preheated 350 degree Fahrenheit (177 Celsius) oven for 45-60 minutes, or until the topping is crisp and golden brown.

If you bake the Danish pastries longer, they will have a drier consistency and won’t fall quite as far. But if you bake just until golden brown, the choux pastry will have more of a soft texture, which my sister and I prefer.

Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Making the Frosting:

Sift the powdered sugar into a medium bowl. Add the butter, 1 tablespoon of warm water, and almond extract.

Beat with an electric hand mixer until completely smooth. Add more water if necessary to achieve a spreadable consistency.

You don’t want the frosting to be SUPER thick, but you also don’t want it to be pourable. Try to match the texture in the photo above.

Spread the frosting evenly over the tops of the cooled pastries.

As you can see, I was a little more generous with the frosting on one than the other. Oops.

Finally, sprinkle the sliced almonds on top of the frosting.

You could also add some festive sprinkles if you like. I’ve seen some people do candied cherries, but my mom never made it that way.

Another option would be mini chocolate chips or chocolate shavings. Keep in mind how the chocolate would pair with the almond extract, though. It’s a bit of an unconventional pairing.

Serving

Using a big chef’s knife, cut the pastries into 1 to 1¼-inch strips (2.54 to 3 cm).

You could also try to cut it with a pizza cutter if that feels more natural. I think you would get cleaner cuts with a chef’s knife though.

Serve at room temperature.

This is wonderful to accompany a cup of coffee or tea. You can serve it for breakfast or brunch, but it’s also a lovely dessert.

Look at those lovely layers!

And you didn’t have to do any laminating pastry to achieve that!

Storing

Store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for about 3 days.

You can also freeze the completed pastry in a freezer safe container. Make sure to cover the frosting so it doesn’t stick to the container.

Where did this recipe originate?

It’s difficult to track down the true origin of this recipe, but Betty Crocker/General Mills was including it in cookbooks and the Betty Crocker Recipe Card Library by the late 60s and early 70s.

It’s uncertain why this is labeled a “Danish” pastry, but it does seem to be loved by Scandinavian communities in the Midwest. Perhaps the fact that it resembles Danish Kringle pastries is where the name comes from.

In any case, it’s absolutely delicious and I would love for you to be able to try it at least once!

So that’s my almond Danish pastry recipe! Make sure to check out my other Christmas/holiday recipes below!

More Christmas Recipes:

Recipe Card